Railroad-crossing.



Di BROWN.,

RAILROAD CROSSING. APPucATmN min ums. |915.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

DAVID BROWN, OF ELDORADO, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Application filed December 6, 1915.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eldo- -4 rado, in the county of Saline and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of iailway crossings.

In carrying out my invention it is my purpose to provide a simple but effective means for closing the gaps between the rails at the corners lof the crossing whereby the wheels of the rolling stock will be afforded a substantially continuous tread over the crossing.

It is also my purpose to construct a railroad crossing having movable elements to lill the gaps at the corners thereof which may be operated in any desired or preferred manner and the construction of which shall embody the desirable features of cheapnes's, simplicity and eliiciency.

With the above and other objects in view the improvement resides ,in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and falling within the sco-pe of the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railroad crossing constructed in accordance with the present invention, the top plate between the crossing rails being broken away to illustrate the structure therebeneath, Fig. 2 is a sectional view approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged top plan view of one of the corners of the crossing, the cover plate for the crossing rails being `removed to illustrate the shifting mechanism for the short l rails that cross the gaps at the corners of said crossing, Fig. 4 is a sectional view approximately on the line 4-4 of Flg. 3, Fig. 5 is a sectional view approximately on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3, Fig. 6 is a sectionalview approximately on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 is a detail sectional .view approximately on the line 7 7 of Flg. 3.

Referring more particularly to the figures of the drawings, the crossing in its entiretyA is indicated by the numeral 8 and includes intersecting rail sections 9 -9 and 10- 10 respectively, the said rails extending a suitable distance beyond their intersections at the corners of the crossing, as disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawings, while the rails 9 and 10 between the extensions thereof have arranged therebetween a cover plate 11.

Specification of Letters-Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

Serial No. 65,358.

It is, of course, to be understood that the rails 9 and 10 of the crossing may be of any desired construction, but preferably, and as illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings, the .g

said rails'comprise each a substantially rectangulaimember having a flanged base and the sides of the said rails are channeled, as at 12,' to receive the centrally arranged tongues 13 upon side plates 14, and these side plates are bolted or otherwise removably secured to the rails as illustrated in the said Fig. 6 of the drawings. Both the side plates and the base of the rails rest upon a. base plate 15 asis also clearly illustrated in the said Fig.

6. In the construction illustrated more clearly in Fig. 6 the inner side plate 14 has its corner grooved longitudinally, as at 1G, and this groove is adapted to receive the flange or rim of the wheel of the rolling stock which passes over the crossing, and the closure or cover plate l1 may be and preferably is removably secured to the referred to inner side plates 14.

The corners of the crossing, at the in-tersection of the respective rails 9 and 10 are provided with angularly arranged grooves 17 each pair of grooves being disposed diagonally with relation to the other pair; that is, the angular side walls of two of the diag- '1 onally opposite gaps aline, and the side Walls of each of the gaps at the lower portions thereof are provided with longitudinally extending grooves 18, the said grooves receiving tongues 19 provided upon the lower corners of the slidable members 20 which' have their upper faces integrally formed with the short rails 21 and 22 rerespectively that are adapted to be moved to fill the gaps and to provide a continuous -3 tread for the rolling stock at the corners of the crossing. The slidable operating niembers 20 are arranged diametrically opposite each other as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, so that one of the members :2O i) centrally overlaps the other member 20. The

short rails 21 and 22 are, of course, disposed at opposite angles with relation to each other so that when the members 20 are moved to one position, the short rails 20 will be brought to fillk the gap to close the crossing rails 10, and when the said members 20 are moved in another direction, or to another position, the short rails 9.1 will be moved to close the gaps between the rails 9 of the 1 crossing.

Preferably each of the members 20 1s formed of a plurality of elements, the main elements being disposed within the gaps and being provided with the short rails 21 and 22, and the inner ends of these members may be provided, as illustrated in the drawings, with connecting elements in the nature of plates 23-23 which may be secured to the said members 20 in any desired or preferred manner, and the plate 23 of oneof the members, of course, overlaps the plate of the other member. Each of the plates 23 is provided with a downturned portion or lug 24:, and these lugs are adapted to contact with the corners of the crossing to limit the slidable movement of the rmembers 20, whereby the short rails 2l or 22 will be positively brought to aline with the rails 9 and l0 of the crossing in accordance with the direction in which the members 20 are moved. The plates 23 have secured, upon their opposite faces, spaced or yoke members 25-25, one pair of such yokes being secured to each of said plates 23, and the yokes 25, as Well as the said plates 23 are provided with registering openings forming bearings for the trunnions of spaced anti-frictional rollers 26-26.

The operating means for the members 20 may be located at any desired distance from the crossing, but the construction shown in the drawings, for convenience, is disposed in close proximity to the crossing, the same including a shaft 27 which is arranged transversely of the main rails ointed to the crossing rails, the said shaft being journaled in bearings below the said main rails and the outer end of the said shaft has secured thereto a ratchet wheel 28 adapted to be engaged by a dog 29 provided upon an operating lever 30, the said operating Alever having its end bifurcated or otherwise provided with straps 31-31 which straddle the toothed wheel 28 and the dog.29 and which are provided at their ends with openings to receive the shaft 27. The inner end of the shaft 27 has keyed thereto a toothed wheel 32, the said wheel being preferably arranged in a slot or opening in the inner bearing for t-he shaft 27, and this toothed wheel is adapted to engage with the teeth of a rack bar 33 which is disposed centrally and longitudinally in a suitable bearing member` 34 between two of the rails of the main track. The rack bar 33 also passes through suitable bearing openings in the rails 9-9 of the crossing, and the said bar is centrally provided with a substantially rectanguluar frame member 35, the parallel oppositely disposed arms of which being received between the roller bearings 26-26 Copies of this patent may be obtained for of the plates connected with the respective members 20 carrying the short rails 2l and 22.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the simplicity of the device, as well as the advantages thereof will, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such invention appertains 'without further detailed description.

Having thus described the inventiomwhat I claim is:

l. In a railroad crossing including angularly disposed spaced pairs of connected rails, said crossing at the corners thereof having angularly arranged gaps, overlapping members having their ends arranged in the gaps, angular-ly disposed short rails upon the rails of the said members whereby to iill the gaps at the corners of the crossing, anti-frictional rollers upon the overlapping members, a rectangular frame having its arms engaging with the rollers, guide members for the frame, means for moving the frame longitudinally of the crossing to cause the arms thereof to move the overlapping members by virtue of contact of the rollers upon the said overlapping members, whereby to bring the respective short rails of the overlapping membersl to fill the gaps of the crossing.

2. In a railway crossing, spaced pairs ol angularly disposed rails having a central connecting plate and being provided with angularly disposed gaps at the corners olf the crossing, the side walls provided by the gaps having longitudinal grooves, members having tongues received in the grooves and movable longitudinally of the gaps, plates connecting the diagonally opposite pairs of members, yokes secured to the plates, roller members arranged in pairs and journaled between the yokes and plates, angularly disposed short rails formed upon the referred to members in the gaps of the crossing and disposed to register with the respective rails of the crossing when the said members are moved diagonally of the crossing, a substantially rectangular frame having its arms engaged between the respective pairs of rollers, a rack bar connected with the frame, bearings for said rack bar, a toothed wheel co-engaging with said rack bar, and means for rotating the wheel to move the frame longitudinally, as and for the purpose set forth.

DAVID BROWN.

wWitnesses:

Jol-1N C. Hren, F. S. SnAeRAvE.

iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D C. 

